Citizen Soldier
by TwinkleToes1224
Summary: Commander John Shepard had been alive for two months and already he was tired. Horizon left him angry and wanting nothing more than to throw himself into the suicide mission. Only a message from his old friend, Councilor Anderson, changes all that. Now, he's chasing after a Batarian slavership that has taken his sister. Shepard(M)/Tali, Shepard(F)/Garrus. M for adult themes
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Bad News**

**Shepard**

Commander John Shepard sighed dejectedly as he stared at his computer screen. He had just received a message from Operations Chief Ashley Williams, further declaring her anger at him after their rather heated argument on Horizon and also adding that she had found 'someone else'. He couldn't believe how selfish she was acting. She saw the collectors herself! She could at least agree that Cerberus was the only organization working against the threat. It wasn't as if he was asking her to join Cerberus and give them her undying loyalty. Hell, he didn't trust them as far as he could throw them. All he had been asking was to join him, help him with the Collectors and maybe be with him in the process.

After several minutes of glaring angrily at the computer screen, he deleted the message and stood from his desk. There was a mission he had to get back to and he couldn't waste his precious time on someone too stubborn to see past the Cerberus logo on his armor. He had already looked over the dossiers for new members the Illusive Man sent and he figured that finding Tali was the best one to start with. He didn't want this mission against the Collectors to go the way Akuze had.

Thinking about Akuze made his foul mood even fouler. The only other marine to survive that mission – Corporal Toombs – had sent a message to him a few months back. Apparently, he believed Cerberus was behind the Thresher Maw attacks on the marines under his command. He had no reason to believe this to be true and had found no evidence to support it, which is the only reason he was still working for the human-centric group.

He stomped over to the elevator and hit the button for the CIC. As the door opened and he strode out to the galaxy map, about to check how far they were from Haestrom, Yeoman Kelly Chambers' voice called, "Commander, you have an unread message at your private terminal."

Shepard stopped, looking at her slightly confused. "I just checked my unread messages."

"Well, a new one from Councilor Anderson is waiting. It just arrived, sir," she replied. Shepard nodded and continued over to the computer. He saw the message and opened it.

Commander Shepard,

Your sister, Lt. Rudy Shepard was stationed on the cruise vessel SSV _Athena_. The _Athena_ was bringing some of the surviving colonists from Horizon to the Citadel. She was stationed on a protection detail and was one of the leading officers of the Alliance military aboard the ship.

While on their way, they were attacked by Batarians. We received a distress call a few seconds before I sent this message to you. You are currently the only ship that is close enough to make a difference. I sent out messages to the Alliance vessels that are close, but they won't make it. I believed you would want to know this information. Hopefully, you'll be able to help.

Anderson

_Shit, shit, shit…._ The Commander's blood had gone cold, his face pale, and eyes wide. His sister… he hadn't seen her since before becoming a Spectre. Had he even sent her a message since waking up in a Cerberus laboratory? And now… she's on a ship that has been attacked by batarians.

Chambers must have noticed his panicked expression because she began asking if he was alright. She had a concerned look on her face, blue eyes a little wide and red eyebrows furrowed a little. He didn't hear a thing she said, fear for his younger sister ate at his mind and rage at the batarians bubbled in his gut.

Quickly, he pulled up the galaxy map and plugged in the new coordinates to the Athena. Once the destination was set, he made his way to the cock pit, ignoring all the strange looks people were throwing at him. Joker's chair swung around as the commander neared, eyebrows raised at the almost panicked look.

"Joker, we are not headed to any of the locations the Illusive Man sent. I keyed in the coordinates for our new destination and we must get there as fast as possible," Shepard commanded.

"Aye commander. What are we looking for?" Joker asked as he swung his chair back around and placed his hands over the keys.

Shepard ignored the question and gazed out the window as he asked, "What's the ETA?"

"Uh… a few hours at most. We have to go back through relays," Joker replied. Shepard tensed at the answer, every second counted. "Commander? What are we looking for?"

Shepard looked away from the view of stars and blackness and back to Joker. "We're looking for the SSV _Athena_. She was attacked by batarian mercs. The Alliance ships won't be able to make it there in time. We're the closest and the only ship that can do anything about it," he answered.

Joker still looked confused but accepted the answer. "I'll let you know when we get there, Commander."

Shepard nodded then turned to the AI. "EDI, I need you to search for information concerning the _Athena_ and tell everyone to meet me in the Conference room in twenty minutes."

"Understood, Commander," she replied, her blue lights blinking slightly. Shepard turned on his heel and brusquely walked back to the computer on the other side of the galaxy map. He could see Chambers eyeing him worriedly out of the corner of his eye. But he couldn't talk right now; he had to send a reply to Anderson.

Ten minutes later, Shepard stood in the conference room, palms planted on the table as he leaned into them. His squad members were casting him curious looks but refrained from asking him questions, for now. He must have been giving off pretty intimidating vibes, as even Jack, their newest and most abrasive member of the crew was quiet.

Operative Miranda Lawson stood off to his right, hand on her white-clad hip. She watched him curiously with her light blue eyes. Shepard was still unsure how much he could trust the woman. She was loyal to Cerberus to the very end, not to mention that had she been allowed full control of his reconstruction, she'd have added control chips into his brain.

To Miranda's right stood Operative Jacob Taylor. He was a hard man to get to know, not that Shepard made any attempts to try. At least he understood the workings of a military ship and its command. He stood at attention, arms behind his back and watching him, waiting respectfully for the commander to begin.

On Jacob's right stood Kasumi Goto, the small and quirky Japanese thief. She was an interesting character in that she would sneak around the ship to discover the juiciest gossip. According to her, Miranda had created an online dating profile and spent her free time messaging different men, not that Shepard really cared about it.

On Shepard's left stood Officer Garrus Vakarian. He'd been by Shepard's side as they pursued the rogue specter Saren Arcturus all over the galaxy. Their relationship started out a little rocky, mainly because Shepard was a little racist against turians back then. However, Garrus had proven his loyalty and trustworthiness to the commander on more than one occasion, Saren just being one of them. He was one of the only friends Shepard had on this ship. He knew Garrus would have his six just like he would have Garrus's. The turian was watching the commander patiently with his piercing blue eyes as he leaned against the wall, arms folded across his chest. The scar on the right side of his face was healing slowly, even with the cybernetics. Shepard couldn't believe he'd almost lost Garrus on Omega, but the turian proved tough, as always.

To Garrus's left stood Jack, the slightly insane, overly powerful biotic. She was glaring across the table at Miranda, tattooed arms folded across her chest and scowling. Shepard still hadn't quite figured her out yet. As it was, she'd only been part of the squad for about a week. He also knew that she hated Cerberus with a molten rage and therefore hated Miranda for her unquestionable loyalty. If he wasn't careful, they'd end up killing each other.

On Jack's other side stood the old mercenary Zaeed Massani. He used to be the leader of the Blue Suns, until one of his own betrayed him. Shepard had already helped the veteran with his revenge, and received the man's loyalty in return. Other than that, Zaeed had stayed out of everyone's way and Shepard didn't try to talk to him.

At the end of the table paced Dr. Mordin Solus. Shepard liked the old Salarian doctor despite his constant confusing ramblings. He was always excited about his work and always gave his opinion. Mordin was the first alien to join his crew aboard the _Normandy_, and Shepard was glad he'd recruited him. Without the aging Salarian STG member, they'd not have gotten through Horizon nearly as unscathed as they had.

Finally, leaning up against the door stood Grunt, the tank-bred Krogan. He was huge and intimidating. For a Krogan, he was pretty volatile, which didn't necessarily bode well for the _Normandy's_ crew. It had been a risk to wake him, but so far, Shepard wasn't regretting it. He had been a huge help fighting the Collectors off on Horizon.

Shepard sighed and every eye that wasn't looking at him swiveled their gaze. "I just received a message from Councilor Anderson telling me the SSV _Athena_ has been attacked by batarian slavers. We are the closest ship to her location, which means we are the only ones who can make a difference." The Commander began.

"Excuse me Commander, but there must be a reason why Anderson sent this information to you, beyond the fact that we are the closest ship to the _Athena's_ location." Miranda claimed, arms folded, body leaning toward him, and looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"And you'd be right," He paused, taking in a pained breath before he continued. "My sister is a Staff Lieutenant in the Alliance. She is stationed on the _Athena_."

The reactions to this statement would have been comical had it not been for the grave situation. As he scanned the room, he saw their expressions ranging from Miranda's bulging eyes and standing upright slowly, looking around to see if anyone else knew or was just as confused as she was, to Garrus's stepping forward and eyeing Shepard with his head cocked to the side, like a terran puppy hearing a recorder's squeak for the first time. But they were silent, waiting for him to explain.

He looked down at the table again, still fighting the anxiety-produced adrenaline. "I know, I never told you about her. I didn't want her to be involved in the missions that I am… Just protecting her as an older brother should," Shepard said quietly, then looked back up at his squad. "That's why Anderson sent me the message."

"With her being a 'Shepard' wouldn't she be a really good soldier?" Jacob asked him, slightly confused. Shepard frowned.

"Yes, she is a very talented soldier. She is a very powerful biotic and has weapons training with assault rifles, pistols, and sniper rifles. She was in the top tenth percentile for marksmanship when she graduated from the Academy." Shepard answered. He had in fact learned something from the dossiers Anderson had repeatedly sent him while he'd been chasing the rogue specter. The old commander was as adamant that Rudy be a part of his team as Shepard was to keep her away.

"She's a biotic? What sort of implants does she have?" Jack asked.

"She has L5s I believe. She was already stronger than biotics with L2s without her implants," Shepard answered. There was a startled murmur throughout the squad at the information.

"But, wasn't Lt. Alenko an L2? He was pretty powerful when he let loose!" Garrus exclaimed, sounding as if Shepard's word of his sister's abilities was illogical, but believing him at the same time.

"Human diversity at its finest! Evolution of biotics is extraordinary! Could eventually replace Asari as the biotic leaders," Mordin exclaimed excitedly from the other end of the table.

"Well… I'm a biotic and I'm naturally stronger than those with weaker implants," Miranda stated, lips slanted in an unimpressed frown. Jack rolled her eyes from across the room.

"You were genetically modified, princess. I'm pretty sure Shepard's sister wasn't," Jack retorted.

"Whatever, Commander, how come we had no knowledge of your sister? How did you keep that bit of information a secret from the public?" Miranda demanded, eyes narrowed slightly.

Shepard frowned at her. "I'm pretty sure Cerberus _did_ know about her, just not her name and relations. After I became a Spectre, I had any information concerning our relationship wiped. On paper, Lt. Rudy Shepard isn't my sister. Public records say my sister died on the streets of Atlanta, where we grew up. I couldn't let any harm come to her because of me."

At the other end of the room, he heard Kasumi mutter, "Smart."

Miranda was quiet for a few moments, then said, "The Illusive Man will want to hear about her. She could be useful to our mission, _if_ what you say about her powers is true."

Shepard's original foul expression morphed into a scowl of rage. "Rudy will _not_ be _used_ by Cerberus," he snarled, forcing Miranda to take a step back, fear in her eyes. It took a moment for him to realize that his small amount of biotics flared in response to his anger. Before, he had no real inkling of biotics but so many things had changed on that operating table… Shepard exhaled as he fought his blistering rage, but the blue glow around him dissipated. Tension was so thick in the conference room that it could be cut with a spoon, everyone watching in still silence. Except Jack of course, who was beaming with absolute glee watching Miranda squirm.

After a few seconds of thick silence, Garrus asked, "Who is going with you on the mission, Shepard?"

Miranda seemed almost relieved by the question, which had successfully diverted Shepard's focus away from her. He looked at his old friend and sighed slightly, letting the rest of his anger fall away to be replaced by business. "Garrus, Jack, you'll be with me. We'll be searching one half of the ship for Batarians and survivors. Miranda –" he snapped, turning to her, making her shrink back, "I want you to go with Mordin and Grunt to find as much information about the batarian ship as possible and help with survivors. Mordin, you'll need to look after any survivors' health. And Jacob, you'll stay behind on the ship with Zaeed and Kasumi. I'll need people with combat experience to stay on the Normandy, so no batarians will board." The squad nodded as they got their orders. "EDI, did you find any schematics on the _Athena_?"

EDI's blue form popped up in the center of the table. "Yes commander." She replied and blinked out of view as an orange floor plan of a ship took her place. "It seems that in emergencies, there is a bunker in the lower decks for civilians to go." The room was highlighted in blue and was at the lowest level of the ship. "The doors are heavily enforced, and locks are difficult to crack. I suggest sending someone with decryption expertise."

Shepard nodded and looked around at his squad. He knew Garrus was one of the best decryption experts on the ship, but he needed the turian with him. Kasumi was also a tech expert and was brilliant at cracking locks. He looked down the table at her. "Kasumi, you will be heading with Miranda, Mordin, and Grunt instead of staying aboard."

"Got it, Shep," she replied. He'd tried in vain to get her to call him Commander instead of 'Shep,' but she was having none of it.

Another room lit up on the second level. "This is the CIC. The batarians will try to take this area first. Once they have control of this room, they have control of the ship. That means heavier defenses will be stationed here."

Garrus moved up to the table, eyeing the layout. "Your sister should be stationed there, Shepard. She is one of the higher ranked officers of the alliance marines on board."

Shepard frowned and folded his arms across his chest. "No. She doesn't like being left out of the action any less than I do. She would most likely be at the front lines, keeping the batarians focus away from the civilians _and_ the CIC. That's what I'd do anyway."

"So… we start looking where exactly?" Jack asked, leaning forward on the table to get a good look at the Commander. He eyed the schematics before pointing to the bottom level.

"We'll dock with the ship in the cargo hold. Miranda, I want you to take your team and head directly to the emergency hold. Once you get that lock open, I want Miranda and Kasumi to head back up to the fourth floor. See if there are any survivors. Also, kill any batarians that cross your path. Garrus, Jack and I will cover the third and second floors and clear the area before going to the first floor, where most of the civilians' and officers' rooms will be." He explained, indicating the rooms and floors as he gave his orders.

As he finished explaining, the intercom buzzed overhead. "ETA fifteen minutes Commander," Joker's voice rang out.

"Do we have a visual?" Shepard asked, looking up at the ceiling speaker.

"Yes, Commander. The _Athena_ is badly damaged. There's a ship speeding away, do you want me to tail it?" Joker asked.

"No, go to the _Athena_. EDI, can you get the transponder codes from that ship and tell me where they're headed?" Shepard asked.

EDI popped back up in place of the schematics and said, "Have them, Commander. They are headed toward Omega."

Shepard sighed. He _really_ hated Omega. "Alright, everyone dismissed. Meet me in the cargo bay with full gear in fifteen minutes."

**Garrus**

Shepard stood by the Kodiak Drop Shuttle in full black and red armor, waiting for the squad to show so they could head to the _Athena_. He checked his sniper rifle, then shut it and attached it to the magnet strip on his back before he reached for his assault rifle. Garrus sighed. Shepard looked tense, more than tense. That was the third time he'd checked his guns in five minutes. Of course he understood why the commander looked that way, having a sister himself.

Shepard looked up from checking his weapons and saw the crew gathered. He nodded toward the shuttle and climbed in, Garrus right behind him and taking the driver's seat at Shepard's indication. Garrus keyed up the shuttle as Shepard sat in the passenger seat. The door shut after everyone boarded and EDI depressurized the cargo bay and opened the hatch.

As Garrus steered the shuttle out of the cargo bay door, Shepard asked, "EDI have you reached the captain of the _Athena_? Are they going to open the door for us?"

"I received no response from the _Athena_ captain. However, I have hacked into their mainframe and will allow you to enter through their cargo hold. There are no life signs present." EDI replied.

_No life signs in the cargo bay? No captain? What if – _Garrus stopped, not wanting to think of the possibility, but it could be detrimental to the mission to ignore details. However, he knew better than to say anything about it to Shepard until there was sufficient evidence… like there was no one on board.

The ride to the _Athena_ was quiet. _Too_ quiet. It only took a minute to station the shuttle in front of the _Athena_'s cargo bay airlock.

"Opening airlock," EDI stated as the airlock door in front of them opened slowly. Garrus drifted them inside and landed on the floor. The airlock behind them shut and their shuttle door opened once the oxygen had filtered back into the room. As they stepped out of the shuttle, they were assaulted with a gruesome scene. Bodies were strewn about the floor, many in Alliance grade armor. It was hard to tell whether the ones that weren't decked in armor were civilians or crew members. Almost as many batarian bodies lay in pools of blood as human ones.

From the rear of the group, he could see Kasumi's eyes were watering at the stench as she quickly brought a hand to her nose. Garrus gagged at the smell, but he'd seen quite a few gruesome scenes like this at C-Sec and while he was on Omega. His thoughts flashed back to when he'd returned to his base of operations on that forsaken asteroid and found ten of his men dead. He couldn't help the wave of anger that washed through him then.

"Is it just me, or does this make anyone else hungry?" Grunt asked, receiving several annoyed and disturbed glares from his squad mates.

Shepard stepped ahead of them and surveyed the cargo bay. He picked his way to a few Alliance marines and looked them over. Mordin followed, scanning each body with his omni tool to see damage or check for life signs.

_Must be looking for his sister among the bodies_. Garrus watched the commander gently turn over a body, this one female. Human expressions were hard to read, but Garrus didn't think he was reacting quite the way that was expected if that body had belonged to his sister. He realized Shepard's usual stoicism could have also been throwing him off.

Shepard stood and looked back at his crew. "Alright, you know where you're going. Head out and stay in radio contact." Miranda nodded and set off toward the emergency hold, Grunt, Mordin, and Kasumi tailing her.

The third floor wasn't much different than the cargo bay. Bodies littered the hallway, blood staining the walls. Shepard checked each female body in Alliance armor just as gently as the ones in the cargo bay, but none of them were his sister. Garrus knew better than to comment and with Jack staying so quiet, she obviously understood not to say anything as well. They proceeded on in silence, passing one destroyed room after another. The amount of bodies decreased the farther they searched the third floor.

The second floor, the one with the CIC, was as dismally populated as the ones before. However, there were obvious signs of resistance. They had barricaded the hallway leading from the elevator to the Command Center, but the walls had been knocked down. Both batarian and Alliance bodies littered the CIC. The commander stopped in his searching for his sister as he found a body slumped up against the galaxy map. He had the Captain's emblem on his armor.

"At least we know why no one responded…" Garrus said quietly.

Shepard sighed as he stood, eyes surveying the rest of the room before resting on Garrus and Jack. "She's not here, we should probably keep looking," he said, voice sounding both relieved and worried.

Garrus had the sinking feeling that Shepard's little sister was no longer on the ship. She wasn't in the two places they believed she would be and it was unlikely she'd be on the first floor, where the living quarters were. "Maybe she made it to the emergency hold?" he offered optimistically, hoping that his instincts were wrong this time.

Shepard made a noncommittal noise as he made his way back to the elevators to head up to the first floor. Jack gave Garrus a significant look before following the Commander. Apparently she didn't think Lt. Rudy Shepard was here anymore either.

The first floor was quiet, just like the earlier floors, but there were much less bodies, much less destruction. There must have been a ship-wide alert because the only bodies up here were a few alliance marines and batarian slavers. Shepard went from room to room, looking around quickly and moving on. Garrus and Jack remained quiet and just followed.

Suddenly, Shepard stopped dead in his tracks and Garrus had to snatch Jack's arm – there really wasn't much of a _shirt_ to grab – to keep her from ramming into the Commander. Jack lost her balance for a brief second before spinning on her toes and snarling 'what the fuck, man,' at him, eyes absolutely ablaze. Shepard, however, remained oblivious to the commotion behind him, eyes fixed on something in the room. Garrus walked up next to him and eyed him with confusion before following his gaze. A sketchbook was lying open on one of the beds, a pencil lying next to it. Shepard approached the sketchbook as if in a daze. He reached down and picked up the book – so odd to see paper nowadays – and flipped through the pages gingerly, as if too much movement would destroy them.

"Shepard? What the fuck is that?" Jack's brazen voice interjected, coming up to Shepard's side and looking at the drawings on the paper.

"She's gotten better…" Shepard said quietly, fingering the corner of a page before turning it, showing another sketch.

"Wait a minute, does this belong to your sister?" Garrus asked, looking down at a sketch of some haggard-looking colonists. Their shoulders were slumped; arms wrapped around their bodies as if trying protect themselves from everything wrong in the universe. Smoke billowed in the back ground from the destroyed prefab housing units and the ground was scorched in areas. One of the subjects was looking directly at the artist, anguish, but also relief in their expression. Garrus could feel his heart tug as he examined the drawing, pulled in by the raw emotion.

Shepard didn't respond for a few moments as he gazed at the picture. Finally he said, "she was always an artist. Sometimes I wish it wasn't mandatory for biotics to join the Alliance."

Suddenly, their radios buzzed, startling all three with the loudness. "Commander?" Miranda's strange, crisp accented voice inquired. Shepard closed the sketchbook and put a hand to his ear, pressing the button on his radio.

"What have you got Miranda?"

"You need to come down to the emergency hold. Commander Williams is here. She says she knows what happened to your sister."

**Miranda**

Miranda scowled as she stood waiting for Kasumi to bypass the lock and let them into the emergency hold. She was still bristling in anger from being reprimanded by Shepard earlier. All she was trying to say was that his sister could help with the mission. Another talented fighter would greatly benefit their operation; maybe even improve their chances of surviving the collectors.

Of course, she'd contacted the Illusive Man to let him know of the deviation from their mission. It was her job to keep him informed of their progress, especially because they had a limited amount of time to complete their suicide mission. Miranda wanted to see this through to the end, and hoped this distraction wouldn't cost them in the long run. Not that she'd say any of this before the others.

"Are you nearly done?" Miranda demanded, her annoyance at her situation making her impatient.

The small Japanese woman never looked up from her work, but replied, "lock-picking is an art, and art takes time, Miranda." Her tone, as usual, was bright and chipper and lacking the respect due to Miranda's rank. She was, after all, the Executive Officer of the _Normandy_, a job she didn't take at all lightly. Her irritated glare went unnoticed by the thief.

A few minutes later, the lock beeped and turned green. "Finally," Miranda growled moving from the wall and striding over to the door. The door slid open, revealing a large room, absolutely filled with civilians and soldiers, all looking at the group with anxious eyes. "It's ok everyone, the batarians are gone," Miranda stated in a bored tone. She really wished she were elsewhere searching the ship for the Commander's sister. At least then she would be doing something useful.

A few of the people inside cheered at the news. The soldiers however looked grim, and one stepped forward. She had black hair that was pulled back and a dour frown on her face. Her brown eyes snapped to the Cerberus logo on Miranda's uniform before looking back at her face, glaring at her.

"You with Shepard?" She growled.

Miranda was taken aback by the poisonous tone as she eyed the woman disdainfully. "Who the hell are you?" she demanded, eyes flashing dangerously.

"Commander Ashley Williams, formerly of the _Normandy_ SR1," Kasumi supplied helpfully, voice as chipper as ever. The thief smiled devilishly as she continued, "She helped Shepard take down Saren two years ago. Rumor has it they were _close_." Miranda turned to scowl at the Japanese thief. Kasumi shrugged nonchalantly, adding, "I've also heard they no longer see eye to eye, not since Horizon." Williams' disgusted expression hadn't changed but her body language showed she was surprised that they knew so much about her.

"Well then, I guess that explains the hostility," Miranda smirked, moving her hand back to her hip.

"We don't need help from a terrorist organization like _Cerberus_," Williams spat, fists clenching.

Miranda raised an eyebrow, letting a humorless laugh escape. "We aren't really here for you all, so I guess you can tell your superiors that you didn't _have_ help from 'terrorists.'"

"Doesn't include medical help," Mordin stated before moving into the room, ignoring Miranda's glare. She was really getting tired of the disrespect. Williams, however, moved to intercept the salarian doctor. Mordin heaved an annoyed sigh as he said, "Commander Williams, I am here to help. You need not worry. I'm retired STG, not Cerberus."

"You're working for them, might as well be," Williams scoffed.

Mordin's stare intensified as he replied, "Look around. People need help. You'll deny them medical attention?" Williams' frown deepened but finally she stepped aside and let Mordin into the emergency hold. "I thought not."

Miranda let out an annoyed breath. How had the conversation gone off course? "Look, we're here looking for someone, that's all."

Williams sent her a distrustful look before asking, "Who?"

"Lt. Rudy Shepard. She was stationed—"

Williams' eyes had gone wide as she exclaimed, "Lt. Shepard? Is she – she wouldn't be related to the Commander, would she? I mean, I had my suspicions…. But…"

Miranda didn't answer the question, only stated, "Do you have any idea what happened to her?"

Williams set her jaw, eyes hardening, as she said, "Yes, but I want to talk to Shepard."

**Shepard**

When Miranda said Ashley's name over the radio Shepard's fists clenched around Rudy's sketchbook. The fact that she might have information on his sister was the only reason he even considered going down to the emergency hold to talk to her. What the hell was he supposed to do?

Hopefully, she doesn't make this another opportunity to tear into him about Cerberus. All he wanted right now was information on his sister; he didn't really have time for anything else.

Garrus and Jack stayed notably silent the whole way down to the fifth floor, but Shepard wasn't in any mood for idle talk. He was angry: angry at the Batarians, angry that he hadn't found his sister – dead or alive – and he was angry with Ashley.

Finally, the elevator doors slid open showing the body-littered cargo hold. Shepard stomped out and went toward the emergency hold, at the opposite end of the ship. Before he made it to the emergency hold, he paused and took a breath, schooling his emotions and putting on a blank face. Then he turned the corner and strode toward the crowd, head high and eyes blazing.

Ashley and Miranda were standing ten feet apart, glaring at each other, and for once, Shepard wanted to join the Cerberus Loyalist. Once he reached Miranda, he turned to Ashley, arms folded and giving off a 'don't fuck with me' vibe.

"Shepard," Ashley greeted, eyes slightly narrowed and tone faintly venomous.

"What do you know?" Shepard demanded, deciding to skip the pleasantries this time. They hadn't worked before, so why try now?

Ashley raised her eyebrows, as if she were surprised by his behavior. Did she really expect him to grovel? "What, no hello?"

Shepard glared at her. "Look Ashley, I don't actually have any time to talk to you. I need to find my sister. Now either you're going to tell me what the hell you know or I'll rip this damn ship apart looking. Which is it?" He didn't look, but somehow he knew that Miranda was smirking smugly. Maybe it was the glare Ashley directed at the woman that tipped him off.

"You're not going to like this Shepard," Ashley stated, finally tearing her glare away from Miranda to look at him, eyes now sad. Shepard merely waited, not changing his position. "Lt. Shepard was in the cargo bay last I saw her. She was keeping the Batarians back while I got the civilians into the emergency hold. When I went back to help," Ashley paused and looked away angrily before her gazed snapped back to Shepard. "She's gone, Shepard. The Batarians have her."

That cold feeling that had hit his stomach when he read Anderson's message earlier in the day now turned into a block of ice. He heaved in a breath and exhaled before looking at his squad. "Let's go."


	2. Chapter 2

Hi everyone, sorry for the wait. I already had this chapter written, but wasn't able to upload until now. Next chapter is in progress! Hope you enjoy

**Chapter 2: Omega**

**Shepard**

All Shepard wanted to do when he got back to the Normandy, after he plugged in the coordinates for Omega and told Joker to get the hell out of there before the Alliance arrived, was head up to his cabin and shower. Spending however long they spent on the Athena and among all the bodies left him feeling dirty and very tired. However, the second he stepped foot in the CIC, Kelly Chambers called, "you have a new message at your private terminal."

Shepard fought the urge to glare at the bubbly woman. Sometimes she was almost as repetitive as a VI. Instead he walked over to his console and opened up his messages. The only one that was unread from today was from the Illusive Man. His frown deepened as he opened the message.

Shepard,

I heard about your sister.

I wanted to ask why your record said she died in Atlanta, but I assume you won't answer. I understand your desire to go after her, but remember the mission. We need you fighting the collectors. If this will help put your head in the game, then go find her, but do it quickly. I can't have you waste time searching every system looking for her.

Furthermore, when you find her, I want her abilities tested and I want to _see_ the results. I want to know if all this time will be completely wasted or if we can get something out of it.

Illusive Man

Shepard growled quietly at the message, fists clenching against the urge to punch the screen. How the hell had the Illusive Man – _Miranda_… she had to be the one that informed the Illusive Man. Spinning on his heel, he tromped over to the elevator and jabbed the 'down button,' ignoring the nervous glances he was getting from the people in the CIC. If she thought she could get away with sending information like this behind his back, she had another thing coming. Once the doors opened, he quickly moved to the back wall and slammed the button for the third floor a little harder than was necessary.

As the elevator began its slow descent to the next floor, Shepard sighed, once more trying to school his stormy thoughts. He wasn't just angry at Miranda for going behind his back, but at many things. He couldn't direct all his fury at her – though he really sincerely wanted to. No, his anger would be taken out on the punching bags down in the shuttle bay or on the Batarians that took his sister when he found them. Miranda was not going to get his full wrath, but he would make sure she never pulled a stunt like this again, especially when the topic was his sister.

When the elevator doors opened on the third floor, Shepard turned right and strode to Miranda's quarters. He knocked once on her door before opening it and barging in. Miranda was sitting at her desk and took her time looking up at him. Apparently, she was still a little annoyed over her earlier scolding.

"Yes, Commander?" she asked, tone sounding bored.

"I just received a message from the Illusive Man," Shepard started, barely keeping the rage from his voice. "Somehow he knows about my sister, yet I've given _no one_ permission to tell him about her."

Miranda sighed and stood, blue eyes showing agitation. "It's my job to report to the Illusive Man. I informed you of this the very first day we started."

"Not when it concerns my sister!" Shepard bellowed, fury exploding no matter how hard he tried to rein it in.

The brunette didn't seem fazed, "I will report everything of consequence to the Illusive Man, especially when it means we deviate from the mission." Her voice was acidic, and she seemed disinclined to budge.

"I told you the first day you stepped aboard this ship that _I_ was in charge. When you go behind my back, I can't trust you, and if I can't trust you then you're less than useless to me. The next time you report to the Illusive Man about my sister, I will personally throw you out of the airlock, Cerberus be damned," Shepard growled. Miranda had the good sense to look frightened. At least now she'd think twice about what she was reporting back to TIM.

Before Shepard turned to leave, he gave her a hard, appraising look and stated, "you are no longer my XO." Miranda's mouth dropped open, blue eyes sparking with shock and anger. She moved her lips as if about to say something, but Shepard raised a hand. "You haven't earned that position. I will be rewarding it to someone I trust to make the right calls."

As Shepard stepped through the door, Miranda called "Shepard!" but the door closing shut cut her off. Instead of walking toward the elevator like he'd originally planned, Shepard turned left, passing Mess Sergeant Gardener and heading to the main battery. He hadn't actually intended to demote Miranda, but now that he'd made the decision, he knew it was the right one. There was only one person on the whole ship that he thought could do the job, and that was Garrus.

Garrus was standing at the console with his back to the door, hands flying over the keys. He looked over his shoulder when he heard the door open. "Commander," he said, surprise in his raspy voice. "I wasn't expecting you."

"Not too busy, I hope?" Shepard asked, moving into the room and leaning against the wall to the right of the console.

"Just running some calibrations," Garrus replied with a shrug.

"Well, I won't keep you for long then. I'm promoting you to Executive Officer," Shepard stated. He believed in being straight forward: it saved a lot of time.

Garrus was taken off guard. He was silent for a solid minute, his mandibles slack. "Uh… what about Miranda? Isn't she XO?" he finally asked.

"As of five minutes ago, no. She's proven that I can't trust her. You are currently the only person on this ship that I trust to have in a leadership position," Shepard replied with an aggravated sigh. The only way to alleviate his anger would be to beat the ever-living hell out of the punching bags downstairs.

The plates above Garrus's eyes rose in surprise, sharp blue eyes scanning him in thought. "She must have done something really bad to piss you off."

"She sent information about my sister to TIM behind my back," Shepard replied.

Garrus hissed through his sharp teeth, fingers clenching at his sides. "That's certainly a reason to be angry. I'm not sure she'd still be alive if she'd sent any sort of information about my family to TIM." The turian shook his head and sighed before straightening. "I accept, Commander."

"Good," Shepard stated as he pushed away from the wall. "Well, I'm going down to the shuttle bay to knock around some punching bags."

"Oh! Let me finish these calibrations and I'll join you," Garrus offered, spinning back toward the console, hands sweeping over the keys. Shepard only had to wait a few minutes before the Turian was finished with his math. It always baffled him that Garrus found calibrating the guns so much fun, he was constantly at it. Shepard hated math.

Together, they walked to the elevator and down to the shuttle bay where the sparring mats and the exercise tools were located. Neither had the chance to change from their armor so they had to take a few minutes to remove the various pieces of armor and train in their under-armor clothes.

Shepard had his usual sleeveless t-shirt and shorts on. Garrus's light-weight shirt was cut with a wide neck to allow for his cowl. The shorts he wore were loose and the fabric both articles of clothing were made of was tough enough to keep from snagging on Garrus's scaly body.

It struck Shepard then that he had never actually seen a turian wear less than their armor or full-body clothes. He hadn't realized that the plates on their faces continued to the rest of their body, as some sort of natural armor.

They each put up their own punching bags and before long had begun their own rhythm punching. Garrus's strikes were quick, his long arms able to move with a speed that a human couldn't possess. It made sense, though; turians were faster runners as well, their muscles long and lean. Shepard's hits were slower but much more powerful. The human body was sturdier built than a turian's.

"So… tell me about your sister," Garrus said after a while of punching. He didn't pause in his punching but he eyed Shepard expectantly.

Shepard let out a huff and sent a really hard punch at the bag before looking back at his turian friend. "Well, I guess you deserve some information about her…" he answered, putting a hand to the swinging punching bag and stilling it. There was so much about his sister he could talk about but he didn't know where to begin. He frowned and passed a hand over his head. Garrus had stopped punching his bag, eyes not leaving Shepard. "What do you want to know?"

"I don't know, why don't you just start at the beginning?" Garrus offered, taking a seat on one of the extra punching bags.

"Okay," Shepard replied, picking up a towel and wiping his face before plopping down on a crate. "I was six years old when she was born. Four years later, our parents were killed in an air car accident. We had no family to speak of and instead of being sent to an orphanage and most likely being split up, we ran away and lived on the streets of Atlanta, a city in the south eastern portion of the United North American States.

"I didn't realize she had any biotic potential until a year later, after she scared off some older boys who had just joined one of the street gangs in Atlanta. We were cornered in an alley and one of the boys pulled out a knife. Rudy shoved me behind her and erupted in this bright blue light. She lifted the boy with the knife off the ground and threw him out of the alley. The other boys followed him soon afterward, screaming for their mothers," Shepard laughed.

"You let a five-year-old girl do all the dirty work?" Garrus snickered.

"To be perfectly honest, I was as scared as those gang boys. I'd never seen biotics before and to see my five-year-old sister lift a kid three times her age off the ground and toss him about like a rag doll was a little intimidating," Shepard answered. "I had no idea where her power or control came from, and it didn't happen again for a while. I guess it was brought on by stress and her desire to live, but I don't know.

"Anyway, shortly after that, she'd gained attention from various groups who wanted biotics. She was hunted," Shepard paused and frowned. That year of running and hiding had been one of the scariest of his life.

"You think Cerberus might have been one of those groups?" Garrus inquired.

Shepard was quiet, mouth forming a grim line before he nodded. "Yeah. I think Rudy and Jack are nearly the same age… If we hadn't been so good at evading the people who wanted to kidnap Rudy, she might have gone through what Jack did."

"Now I'm really wondering why Miranda is still alive. You spent all that time protecting your sister from Cerberus, and Miranda gives the information straight to TIM," Garrus threw his hands up in the air in exasperation.

"Yeah well, I couldn't take all my anger out on her. Besides, she probably doesn't know anything about it," Shepard muttered, his anger rising again.

"How did you stay safe?"

"We evaded the people after us for a year, but they became more creative so I had to take extreme measures. I joined the Tenth Street Reds to keep my sister away from whoever wanted her," Shepard answered.

"I always wondered why you were in a gang! When that guy showed up on the Citadel when we were chasing Saren, I thought you'd knock him out," Garrus exclaimed.

Shepard laughed, "I really wanted to. I wasn't a huge fan of being in a gang but it was necessary at the time. And in truth, I did owe him; Finch was one of the guys that helped take care of my sister after I left to join the Alliance. I was just pissed that he came after me like that."

"What did he want again?" Garrus asked.

"He wanted me to break some guy out of prison," Shepard sighed. "The guy had apparently been arrested by turians for a 'minor offense.'" Garrus exhaled, shaking his head. Shepard had gone to talk to the turian guard alone, thinking it best to handle a gang issue by himself. What he'd discovered had made him furious. The Tenth Street Reds had used the success that Shepard had been able to build them to start a galactic level gang who had become a violent anti-alien group. When Shepard had been leading them, they had been charging local businesses for security work, stealing food and technologies, and making sure the other gangs didn't dare to challenge them. They had been respectable, for a gang.

To be honest, it wasn't the hate explicitly that made him angry – although it did on a certain level even though he'd shared that hate once upon a time – it was the fact that they might have dragged Rudy into it, who didn't have hate in her nature. That was what led him to turning Finch into the authorities and threatening to kill him if he tried to contact him again.

"Anyway, the Tenth Street Reds helped keep the would-be kidnappers at bay, Rudy was able to practice her biotics, and I learned to be a leader," Shepard continued.

"How long did that take?" Garrus asked.

"Two years. I worked my way up the ranks and by the time I was fourteen I was the leader. I led them for four years," he replied. "Rudy was twelve when I left to join the Alliance, but I knew the people I left in charge and they looked after her for a while. One of them had a little bit of biotic training and had been helping her hone her skills before I left. I kept tabs on everyone anyway and tried to keep in touch with Rudy the best I could. Two years later, she became the new leader of the Tenth Street Reds even though she wasn't actually a member."

"That's unusual," Garrus remarked. Shepard nodded. In most gangs or mercenary groups, the leader is a member that everyone either respects or fears. Generally, the gang couldn't respect or follow someone who hadn't gone through the initiation like everyone else.

"She told me she was trying to keep them from getting into too much trouble. Rudy always had a big heart and the Reds were her family back then, like they were a family to me. She tried to keep everyone safe," Shepard stated. "I was proud of her for a while, but I worried.

"The year after Akuze, she sent me a message telling me she enlisted. I told her she shouldn't have, that she'd find nothing but anger and bitterness with the Alliance. She didn't listen, and instead said it was the only thing she could do." Shepard let out an aggravated sigh, fists clenching. "She was right. The only thing a human biotic can do is enlist. And she wanted to help, wanted to change the galaxy."

"That's why I went into C-Sec, but of course, I realized I could do better work outside the bureaucracy," Garrus stated. "She's probably much less idealistic now, being in the Alliance for… how many years?"

"Seven and she is a Lieutenant with her own squad. I was twenty-two when I was given my first assignment as a squad leader. The Alliance, however, doesn't generally give leadership positions to biotics," Shepard replied.

"Well then they probably gave it to her because she has good leadership skills and is also a Shepard," Garrus replied, flashing a turian smile.

Shepard laughed and nodded, "probably." Then he stood and stretched, enjoying the feeling it gave to his muscles. "Well, I'm feeling a little bit better, now that I've beaten the hell out of a bag of sand," Shepard stated, collecting his armor.

"Yeah, I should probably get back to calibrating the guns," Garrus stated as he stood, stretched, and began to collect his own armor.

"How is it that you can do that for hours on end? That much math would drive me nuts," Shepard remarked, heading toward the elevator.

Garrus laughed as he followed. "I prefer a gun that fires as precisely as possible to one that is 0.5% off mark."

"When you put it that way, it sounds more important, but I still don't understand how you can do that for hours. You need a hobby," Shepard replied.

"Some people would tell you the same thing Shepard. They don't think hunting Collectors or fighting Reapers is a good pastime."

The week it took for the Normandy to reach Omega was as nerve-wracking as Shepard thought it would be. Not that they ran into batarian pirates or another collector ship hoping to blow them to bits or anything but Shepard was constantly worried about his sister. He spent most of his time with Joker up in the cock pit or down with Garrus in the main battery.

For the first time, Shepard was glad to see the glowing red asteroid that was the seedy underbelly of the galaxy. Omega shone like a beacon to any who wished to make their own rules or for those that wanted to get away from the Alliance and the Council. All Shepard saw was the hope of finding his sister.

Shepard was in gear and by the air lock long before they'd been given clearance to dock. He'd selected Garrus, Jack, Grunt, and Mordin to accompany him to Afterlife and then on the search for his sister. Garrus and Mordin knew Omega the best out of his whole crew so it was a no brainer to bring them along. It was also pretty sensible to bring a doctor, incase Rudy needed some sort of medical help. Jack and Grunt were coming for pure fire-power. He wasn't taking any chances getting his sister back. Not a single batarian would be left alive.

By the time the ship was docked, Shepard could feel his nerves on fire with anxiety, but he wouldn't let it show on his face. Aria would pick up on it immediately if he didn't school his expression. It was likely she'd pick up on it anyway…

Shepard and his crew disembarked the _Normandy_ and headed straight for Afterlife, which was situated at the center of Omega, sending pulses of loud monotonous club music throughout the entire sad place. Omega reminded him of some of the sketchier parts of Atlanta that he'd had to venture into on more than one occasion for the Reds. You always had to be on alert in this kind of environment or you would either end up with your credit chit stolen or a bullet hole in your body.

"This place smells wrong," Grunt growled, hands fisting at his sides as they bypassed security guards on their way into Afterlife.

"There're a lot of things wrong with this place," Garrus replied, eyes shifting around suspiciously. He hadn't been back on Omega since Shepard rescued him from his hideout. Maybe he thought someone would peg him for Archangel and all hell would break loose.

"I don't know what you two are talking about, this place seems pretty cool!" Jack exclaimed, staring around at the walls with dancing flames. Of course she'd love this place, she used to be a space pirate. She'd fit in perfectly here.

"Try living here for a couple of weeks, get mugged a few times and wake up in a ditch. You'll change your tune pretty quick," Garrus retorted.

Jack snorted, "is that what happened to you?"

"I didn't say that," Garrus replied, shooting a glare at the young biotic as they entered the club.

"Ha! Anyway, I wouldn't be bested so easily. I bet I could be leading this place within the week!" Jack exclaimed over the pounding music.

"Don't let Aria hear you say that!" Shepard shouted back, suddenly wishing he hadn't brought Jack inside the club. The self-proclaimed 'Queen of Omega' would probably have her killed.

They made their way to the raised platform where Aria's sitting area – or throne, which is what Shepard had come to call it – was. Just like the last time he was here, the asari was lounging on her couch giving off an air of disinterested arrogance. Shepard hated coming here, and hated more that he needed her help.

"Shepard, what a surprise to see you here," Aria stated, somehow making the greeting sound like an insult.

"Aria," Shepard replied simply, nodding.

"I see you survived the plague zone and… is that Archangel back there?" Aria asked innocently, smirking all the while. Shepard didn't dignify that with a response, but he heard Garrus shift uncomfortably.

"We're not here to talk about violent doctors or vigilantes. There was a batarian ship that docked here recently. I'd like to know where her cargo is kept," Shepard stated briskly.

"The slave ship? What would you want with slaves, Shepard?" Aria inquired, tilting her head to the side and quirking one eyebrow.

Shepard resisted the very strong impulse to grind his teeth. "Just tell me where they're kept."

"Or what? I believe I helped you last time you were here for free, but my generosity only goes so far," Aria replied, tone abruptly acidic.

After discovering that Rudy was taken on a batarian ship that was heading to Omega, and actually making it here, Aria was going to turn Shepard away. He finally broke; he laughed uncontrollably. He didn't know what he found so funny, the situation was anything but. Aria obviously hadn't been expecting that. She gave Shepard an almost worried look, before looking at his squad for some clue. They were probably as confused as she was.

"Aria, you're under the assumption that you actually have a choice. You see, I have some information that would be very valuable to you. But, if you don't cooperate, not only will you not receive this information, I will tear this station apart searching for those slaves. Do you understand?" Shepard asked, smiling all the while. The information he referred to he had picked up when he rescued Garrus. Apparently, the Blue Suns, Blood Pack, and Eclipse were planning to overthrow Aria. He had intended to just give her the information but if she was going to play coy, he was going to make her work for it.

Surprise flashed in Aria's violet eyes for a second before she schooled herself. "You have something to offer for the information you want? I'd be glad to take it off your hands and then I'll tell you where to find those slaves."

"No. You tell me what I want to know now or you won't see even a letter of this information," Shepard replied forcefully.

One fine eyebrow rose and she looked Shepard up and down once as she observed, "You sure have your panties in a twist, Shepard. Did the batarians take someone close to you?"

Shepard scowled, eyes going hard. "That's none of your concern."

"Oh ho! The great Commander Shepard saving a loved one from the claws of batarian slavery! Tell me, is it a former lover?" Aria pressed, laughing.

"I seem to remember when I asked you a question about your past and being told it wasn't my business. Well this isn't yours. All you should concern yourself with is telling me where to go," Shepard stated, barely keeping anger from his voice.

"Oh fine. A batarian ship docked early this morning. They took the cargo to an abandoned warehouse down on D-level," Aria replied smoothly, glancing at her fingernails in disinterest.

"Was that really so hard?" Shepard asked before pulling out the datapad he'd picked up at the mercs' base and tossing it on the couch beside the asari. "The groups that were after Archangel were going to come for you next." Aria didn't show a hint of emotion as she picked up the datapad and scanned over the contents.

"Thanks Shepard," she stated casually before directing her gaze at one of her batarian guards. In a second, Aria's expression changed from cool indifference to fury as she threw the datapad at her guard. "How the hell did this slip the net?!"

The batarian fumbled for the datapad and stumbled out a reply, "I-I'll look into it!"

"Yes, you better look into it!" Aria growled before turning her gaze back to Shepard. "This would have taken much longer to get to me thanks to substandard infiltrators."

"I assume someone is going to pay for this, but I have a warehouse to check," Shepard stated as he turned away from the asari and began to make his way down the steps.

"Yes. Now go find whoever it is you're looking for before they're gone. I hear they don't stay very long," Aria stated, head turned away in dismissal. Shepard was already on his way out. Now that he knew where he was going, he wasn't about to waste anymore time.

"Garrus, do you know of any abandoned warehouses on D-level?" Shepard asked once he and his squad were finally outside of Afterlife.

"There are several Shepard, and each would be an optimal place to process slaves," Garrus answered. Shepard sighed. It was never easy was it?

They took an air car down to D-level and Garrus led them to the first warehouse that he knew of. It was still mostly abandoned with a few squatters varying in species. Each person who was there looked weary and beaten. Mordin did what he could for most of them, but Shepard had to press on. Time, after all, wasn't on their side.

The next warehouse held a red sand smuggling ring. Shepard and Grunt charged in, firing their shot guns or assault rifles with Jack just behind them, wreaking havoc with her biotics. Garrus and Mordin trailed behind, picking off targets one well-placed shot after another. Cover was plentiful, with all the red sand boxes piled high on top of each other. The mercs – Blue Suns by their signature blue armor – didn't last very long under the onslaught.

Shepard led his squad through two more warehouses before they came on one that was quiet. Jack and Grunt had insisted nothing was inside, but something about how very empty the warehouse was made the commander want to check it out. The glass of the windows was fractured and the lights flickered. The front door was blown outward from its mechanism, its pieces lying about in front of the building.

"Something happened here," Garrus observed quietly, hands flexing over his sniper rifle. Shepard nodded and cautiously stepped through the open doorway. With the lights flickering so much on the inside, it was hard to see the whole picture. Flashes showed outlines of large, boxy objects and still forms lying about on the floor.

"Garrus, can you get the lights to work?" Shepard asked, turning back around to face his squad. The turian nodded and moved to a breaker box. It took a few moments but finally Garrus managed to unlock it. When the door opened, sparks shot out and Garrus barely had time to dodge.

"Watch it, Scales! You almost got yourself electrocuted!" Jack exclaimed with a bark of laughter.

"Thanks for the concern," Garrus grumbled, eyeing the breaker like it was a rabid varren. He approached it cautiously with his hands out placatingly, as if it could lunge out and bite him. It sparked the second he touched it and he jumped back again.

"Perhaps insulated gloves?" Mordin suggested, pulling out a pair he just happened to have.

"Why the hell do you have insulated gloves?" Jack demanded as Garrus took them with a nod of thanks.

"I use neuroshock pistol. Need to retrieve darts." Mordin answered simply.

"Guns are easier," Grunt rumbled, hefting his shot gun to his shoulder for good measure.

Garrus had ignored all of this as he got to work, flinching back slightly with every spark. After one particularly bright spark, the lights flared and went out completely. Shepard sighed in annoyance, but Garrus somehow kept working in the pitch black. A few seconds later, the lights came back on and didn't flicker.

"Well done," Shepard stated before turning back around. Now that the lights were on, he actually wished they'd go off again. With a mixture of relief and revulsion, Shepard realized the boxy objects were in fact cages and the forms lying on the floor were bodies. This _had been_ where the slaves were held and processed, but now, it was a morgue. His eyes fell on the body of a batarian, frown deepening. Had the slaves broke out and killed their guards? Or did some outsider want to free the slaves as much as he did?

"Mordin, how long have they been dead?" Shepard asked, still studying the batarian body. The old salarian immediately moved to the nearest body, omni tool flaring at his wrist.

"Been dead four hours. Body is room temperature," Mordin answered, standing.

"Dammit Rudy, where are you?" Shepard growled quietly. Rudy wasn't here anymore, and now they were four hours behind her.


	3. Chapter 3

So yeah I know, this chapter was a long time coming. I've at least started chapter four. Thank you to those of you who reviewed and favorite/followed this story. And of course, I don't own any of these characters (minus the ones who weren't actually in the game of course). This universe belongs to Bioware. Now, on to the chapter!

**Chapter 3: Five Hours Earlier**

**Rudy**

Her head absolutely throbbed, but she didn't know if it was from the drugs or from the blow to the head she got when the batarians threw her in this damned cage a few minutes ago. She'd tried to use her biotics against them, which was much harder with the inhibitors in her system. The dose they'd been giving her hadn't been high enough, but she hadn't corrected them. The stunt she'd pulled when they'd docked on Omega was because she knew what was going to happen.

The batarians brought their captives to an old warehouse in a lower level on Omega. This was their processing plant, the place where they turn strong individuals into docile slaves. The process was almost immediate, and very painful. The batarians take one captive to the back, cut open their heads, and place a chip under their skin. The chip itself suppresses most rebellious behavior, but the screams coming from the back room were enough to scare many of the captives now in the cages into submission.

On top of that, the batarians had been purposefully keeping her rations low, letting her body begin to eat away at her muscle mass. The same had happened to anyone who was a trained soldier. It made them easier to control; keep the soldiers separated and weak so they couldn't band together and overthrow their captors.

Rudy was determined not to become a slave. The batarians would not put that chip in her head. But that was before her botched escape attempt, before she'd shown them the inhibitors weren't strong enough. They'd upped the dose before she'd left the ship and she was little more than a drooling lump on the floor.

At least she had conscious thought, just no motor control over her body. So, all she could do was sit on the floor of her cage in her under armor clothes. Her alliance armor had been stripped from her while on board the _Revenant_ – the slave ship the batarians used – when she was unconscious. She'd been absolutely cold ever since. Her head continued to pound and her body continued to shiver, but she didn't utter a sound; only glared at the batarians as they passed by her cage dragging another poor soul to the processing room.

"Hey, Rudy?" a small voice to her right uttered. Rudy rolled her head to the side so she could see who was talking to her, not that she didn't know already. Arabella Steele, the doctor Rudy had served with on the _Athena_, was in the cage adjacent to hers, her green eyes wide with fear. She'd tried to discreetly give Rudy some of her food to keep her strength up, but was caught by the batarians and had her own rations cut. "How are you holding up?"

Arabella was a colonial doctor who'd run a clinic on Horizon, but she was originally from Earth – England specifically. She had refused to say what she'd seen during the Collector attack, still very shell shocked from the experience. Rudy had spent quite a bit of time with her on the _Athena_, and even more during their time on the _Revenant_. She was a very kind, quiet woman who didn't deserve this much bad fortune.

"Other than being doped up on drugsss and caged in a ssslave processssing facility, I'm great," Rudy slurred, her tongue not quite wanting to respond to her brain's commands. She huffed in frustration, hating how out-of-control her body felt.

"Yeah, I saw them drug you. It should wear off relatively quick with your metabolism," Arabella stated with a sympathetic frown.

"How quick?" Rudy asked, tongue all but useless.

"Maybe a couple hours. It's hard to tell, I don't know how much they gave you," Arabella replied.

"Quiet in there!" growled a batarian guard, pounding on the bars of their cages. Arabella jumped as Rudy rolled her head forward to glare at the offending guard.

Once the guard had moved on, Rudy stated, "I don't think I can wait even an hour. Thisss placcce makesss me angry." As the words left her lips, she watched a slaver drag a poor, screaming woman out of the cage across from them and to the back. Fury raged within her but she literally couldn't lift a finger to help.

Arabella watched with fear as the batarian passed. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths before turning back to Rudy, visibly struggling to master her fear. "So… Rudy, I heard that Commander Shepard—"

"Hasss been dead for two yearsss," Rudy snapped, mood souring even further. The rumors about him being alive had to be wrong. They had to be. Otherwise, he would have gotten in touch with her a long time ago, telling her everything was ok. But no, he'd gone and died off in deep space, leaving her alone in this cold galaxy.

Arabella had shrunk back from Rudy's sudden fury. Rudy sighed, guilt calming her sudden anger. Arabella was timid in nature and being in a situation like this only escalated her introversion. Shouting at her didn't help anything. "Ssorry… I didn't mean to sssnap…"

Arabella nodded before she continued quietly, "I know you don't think he's alive, Rudy, but I heard that people saw him on Horizon."

Rudy's teeth gritted together, jaw clenching tightly. She'd heard the same rumors, but that's all they were; rumors. Anyone can make something like that up after a life or death situation. They're confused and don't know who they saw or what actually happened. Sometimes a delusion is easier than reality. She looked away from Arabella to glare at the batarians walking in front of her cage. She'd gone through enough pain trying to come to terms with her brother's death. Not that she wouldn't be incredibly happy to have her brother back, it's just she didn't want the false hope.

"Why is it so hard to believe? He could have been on a secret mission or something, and that's why he was gone off the grid for two years," Arabella reasoned.

"He'sss dead, I went to the memorial ssservicsse. That'sss why it'sssso hard to believe," Rudy replied before rolling her head back to look at the black-haired woman in the cell next to her. "How would you feel if you thought your brother wasss dead for two yearsss and ssuddenly, he resssurfacess on ssome backwater colony, killing Collectorsss?"

Arabella's eyes widened, full lips fell open in shock. Rudy grimaced slightly and rolled her head away from her friend. She shouldn't have said that. First of all, it was a rude thing to say. Second, no one was supposed to know she and the Savior of the Citadel were siblings. It was quiet between them for a while, the awkward unexpected-revelation kind of quiet.

"Did… did you just say that Commander Shepard was your brother?" Arabella finally asked, voice low so she wouldn't be overheard.

"Look, jusst forget I ssaid anything…" Rudy muttered, not looking at her. She didn't see Arabella's nod, but she heard her move away from the bars between them. Rudy sighed, inwardly glad they were off the topic of her brother but sad that she'd driven off her only friend here.

Besides, there was absolutely no way her brother was alive and fighting evil right now. Like she'd said, she was at his memorial service. Hell, she was the one that handed his flag to Councilor Anderson! She remembered the look in his dark eyes when she'd given him the folded Alliance flag. Anderson usually hid his emotions well, but he knew she was John's only family and he knew it should have been _him_ giving _her_ the flag. His eyes shone with tears, lips pressed into a thin line as he took it from her, giving her a small nod of understanding. It took all she had to keep her emotions from breaking her down completely. She had just buried her brother, and she couldn't talk to anyone about it.

His _Normandy_ crew had been occupying the front row of chairs, all in various stages of grief. She studied them during the service, trying to figure out who they were, what kind of people her brother worked with during his last year alive. The human woman – Chief, or now Commander Ashley Williams – had tears running freely down her face as she gazed at the empty casket. Rudy couldn't see the quarian's face but her shoulders shook within her suit from her sobs. The turian and the krogan surprisingly stood side by side, both with blank faces. Their eyes were hollow, however, their grief plain to see for anyone who knew where to look. Lastly, the asari was the only one not showing any outward sign of distress. She kept her face angled toward the ground, eyes closed and body very still. The pilot, Jeff Moreau, leaned on the doctor, Dr. Karin Chakwas, eyes shining with tears. John had lost his life saving Moreau, and the pilot was obviously taking it very hard.

It had seemed to her that John's crew had admired her brother, for reasons beyond him being the first human specter. They had been extremely loyal, taking on John's goals and missions as their own.

Her grief had quickly turned to rage when the Alliance began to use her brother in their recruiting while simultaneously disregarding everything he stood for. The council – that her brother had saved – turned their backs on the imminent threat. Yes, John had told her about the Reapers. If she had somewhere else to go, something else she could do, Rudy would have left the Alliance and headed to the Attican Traverse or the Terminus Systems to get away from it all. She was that disgusted by everything. But no, the only place for a human biotic is the military. So, she threw herself into her job, accepting risky, dangerous missions in the hope she'd be wounded enough to be discharged or killed. Of course, her superiors began to see the pattern and assigned her to less dangerous jobs, like her assignment on the _Athena_. Which, of course, somehow got her into this situation.

Rudy sighed, hand fisting on her leg. At least now, the drugs were beginning to wear off. How long exactly had she been in lala-land? She looked over into the cage next to hers where Arabella was sitting, knees up to her chest and arms wrapped around them protectively. Guilt settled in Rudy's stomach. Ara was terrified, not used to this kind of environment. Well, Rudy wasn't really either, but she was used to the feeling of danger. Ara had told Rudy that she'd just wanted to get away from Earth, from all the corruption and bigotry in the medical industry. She'd said it hadn't been about the patient for the doctors, only the money. And she didn't know enough about other species to go work at the Citadel. So she'd turned to Horizon, an out-of-the-way colony, to help people.

And look what it had gotten her. First, her home attacked by Collectors and now batarian slavers ransack the _Athena_ and take them all as captives, soon to be slaves. It had definitely been a terrible past few weeks.

"How are you holding up?" Rudy asked, voice cracking slightly. Man, she needed water.

Ara's head snapped up and looked at her in surprise. "Uh… considering? I'm freaking out."

Rudy nodded, smirking slightly. "Yeah, that was a little bit of a stupid question."

"Just a little."

"I think the drugs might be wearing off," Rudy said quietly, leaning closer to the bars so she wouldn't be over heard.

"Yeah, you're not slurring anymore. Motor skills getting better?" Ara asked, eyes going sharp and calculating, like she was thinking. Rudy lifted her hand to scratch her forehead. Yup, motor skills checked out. Ara nodded subtly, eyebrows furrowing now. "I would ask you to try out your biotics, but I think it might be too soon. If they see you wielding your… stuff, they might get kinda angry."

"I've got a test that they might not notice," Rudy replied, closing her eyes in concentration. Usually, it was pretty easy tapping into her biotics, but with the inhibitors still in her system, there were a few mental walls between her and her powers. After a while, those walls break down, just like any drug does when it's in the system. Her smaller, less taxing abilities were able to leak out of the cracks first. This meant, if she concentrated hard enough, she could eavesdrop on what their batarian captors were thinking. Not that she really wanted to, she knew what they were up to and really didn't want to hear their thoughts again. She'd listened in while they were on the _Ravenant_. What she wouldn't have given for a shower at the time. These batarians that held them captive were some really sick fucks.

But she had to try it. At first, all she could hear were faint whispers of thought, fleeting and hard to hold onto. Gradually, the thoughts became louder, more understandable, but she was picking up too many people. That was the problem with this power. When she wasn't in complete control over it, it was hard to get a read on a single person. She'd fluctuate between hearing whispers to a whole crowd and back again. A headache was blossoming above her right eye as she concentrated, trying to single out just one person.

_I wish they'd put a muzzle on those damned humans back there. The screams are giving me a headache. _One voice pierced through her skull and Rudy latched onto it, desperate now to get away from the volume fluctuations. _ Just one more trip and I'll be done here, can go join the Blue Suns or something, get the hell off of Kar'Shan._ It must have been another batarian guard. Rudy was sitting in this goddamn cage with a raging headache and he's complaining about how hard his life is? Batarians… _Last cage on the right was it? I can never remember, all these humans look alike to me._

Wait… last cage on the…

"Ara, they're coming," Rudy hissed, eyes flying open. Ara's eyes widened, pupils dilating in fear.

"For who?" she asked, voice high pitched and tight.

The heavy footsteps of a batarian wearing armor were coming closer and Rudy's head swung to look. "Ara, they're coming for you." Predictably, Ara squeaked in fright, body curling into a ball. "When they grab you, go for the eyes. Fight them with everything you have," Rudy said, voice wavering as she turned back to her friend. Ara's vibrant green eyes were swimming in tears, lower lip trembling, but she nodded.

And there the four-eyed bastard was, omni-tool glowing orange before the lock flashed to green and the cage door opened. He stepped into the small space and Ara did what she could to move away. When he grabbed her, she lifted her hands to his face, nails scraping along the scales there and gouging the eyes when she could. The batarian screamed, throwing Ara away from him and into the bars at the back of the cage. Her head cracked against the metal and she crumpled to the floor.

Rudy was on her feet in an instant, hoping to draw the batarian's attention away from her helpless friend. "Hey, four eyes! Why don't you pick on someone your own size! Go try one of those asari strippers up at Afterlife, even though I'm sure that will be an unfair fight for you!"

The batarian turned to her, lips pulled back in a sneer to show pointed teeth. He had blood streaming out of the eye Ara had scratched. "You better settle down, _slave_, or I'll drag you back there and show you your place."

"I'd like to see you try," Rudy snarled, grey eyes flashing with a challenge. She almost breathed a sigh of relief when the batarian took the bait and left Ara's cell. Now, she had to figure out how to fight him off with the drugs still in her system and her limbs heavy from hunger and fatigue. He was at her cell door, unlocking it and flinging it open. Rudy crouched in a ready stance. She wasn't amazing at hand-to-hand – most biotics weren't – but at least she had some good training under her belt.

The batarian came at her like a charging bull, letting his anger show. His first two mistakes. First, an attacker should never just come right at an opponent without knowing their weaknesses. Second, showing emotions made someone very easy to read and it made them stupid. Rudy clamped down on every emotion she was feeling and set a blank mask on her face. Once he got close, she sent one well-place jab at his throat and then solar plexus, knocking the breath from him and keeping him from taking another breath all in one well fell swoop. As he doubled over gasping for air, Rudy grabbed both sides of his head and twisted as hard as she could. The snapping of the bones and tendons in the batarian's neck was nauseating, but Rudy just let the body fall to the floor before grabbing his omni tool and leaving her cell to check on Ara, arms and legs shaking.

The young doctor's body was still, her long black hair pooling about her. Rudy knelt beside her, gently feeling the back of her friend's head. It wasn't wet, so she wasn't bleeding, but there was a huge lump forming.

"Ara," Rudy said quietly, grabbing a hold of her arm and shaking gently. "You need to get up, Ara. We have to get out of here."

Slowly, Ara's green eyes opened, groaning at the pain in her head. "What happened?" She asked as she sat up carefully, looking around. When she spotted the dead batarian in Rudy's cell, she gasped. "You killed him?"

Rudy nodded, "he threw you into the bars and knocked you out. I had to distract him from you."

"How? Your biotics can't be all back yet, right?"

"I do know a little bit of hand-to-hand. He was pretty easy to fight, even with my body not at 100%. I can feel my biotics starting to come back a bit more though, so I should be able to use them soon," Rudy answered, standing up and offering Ara a hand. She took it, and swayed dangerously upon standing fully upright.

"Ugh, I think I may have a concussion," Ara grumbled, hand going to the back of her head to feel the lump herself. "Yep, definitely a concussion."

"You can walk though, right?" Rudy asked. Ara nodded with a mumbled 'I think so.' "Ok, then we need to get out of here."

"What about the others?" Ara asked.

Rudy sighed. She'd love nothing more than to rescue everyone else, but many already had the control chip placed beneath their skin, and would attack them on command. Rudy still wasn't at full power, hell she could only use her simpler biotic moves like throw and pull. Warp was a little bit too complicated and forget singularity and shockwave. And she was the only one of the two of them that could actually fight.

But, if she left everyone else here, how much would it eat at her later? A lot. "I'll try to save as many as I can," she finally stated before moving back to the door of the cage.

There weren't many people left in the cages around them, but a few empty cages down the row, there was a male turian. He watched them quietly, unmoving. When she gained consciousness on the _Ravenant_, she'd noticed more people had been taken than just from the _Athena_. They had well over a hundred more captives, all of varying races. She hadn't seen many turians – they make poor slaves after all – so the fact that this turian hadn't been taken back yet wasn't all that much of a surprise. They're still very dangerous without their armor and guns. The batarians probably wanted all hands on deck to subdue him when he fought.

Rudy approached as swiftly and silently as she could and knelt in front of the bars. "What's your name?"

"Avitus Flavian," he answered, voice low and vibrating. Deep set golden eyes studied her face behind a mask of green markings on bronze scales. "If you're escaping, take me with you. I can help fight."

"I figured you'd want to get out of here," Rudy replied with a small smile, lifting the stolen omni tool and unlocking the cage's lock. As she opened the door, Flavian stood, but had to hunch over. The cages were too short for turians; they weren't usual guests, Rudy assumed. He breathed a sigh of relief once he was fully upright, stretching the cramps out of his muscles.

Like Rudy, Flavian had been stripped of his armor and was stuck in his under armor clothes. Rudy wasn't familiar with the fabric, but they were loose-fitting and looked very comfortable. Flavian's bronze scales continued all over his body, covering the leathery skin beneath. Turians' evolved the scales to protect them from their sun's radiation. The stratosphere on Palaven was too thin, and let in too many ultra violet rays. Rudy had studied Palaven as part of her xenopsychology major at the Academy before being commissioned into the Alliance Marines. The pictures she saw were beautiful and exotically colorful, but she could never go there without wearing either full armor or a radiation suit.

"What are your names?" Flavian asked quietly.

"I'm Ara Steele, and this is Rudy Shepard," Ara whispered, green eyes wide as she looked around, watching for batarians.

Flavian studied Rudy, golden eyes sharp. "You Alliance?"

Rudy nodded once before stating, "a Lieutenant. And you? Are you with the Turian Military?"

"Yes. I'm a Centurion. I was heading home on leave and our transport was attacked. They shot me with a stasis gun before I could do anything," he uttered with a low growl, mandibles flaring slightly in his anger.

A Centurion was roughly the same rank as a Sergeant Major, making him enlisted rather than an officer, like Rudy. That meant she was in charge. Fantastic.

"Well, you'll get some payback now," Rudy replied, receiving a nod and a turian smile in return. "Alright, let's go free the captives."

Quietly, the trio moved away from the now empty aisle of cages. The slavers had gone through over half the captives already, so they moved toward the other side of the warehouse they had been caged in to set as many helpless people free. They were able to pass a few empty aisles unscathed, but Rudy knew once they moved farther into the warehouse, there would be plenty more batarians to take care of.

And she was right. Rudy held up a fist as she, Ara, and Flavian crept up to the first populated aisle they'd come across. Flavian stopped immediately, recognizing the sign, but Ara bumped into Rudy, almost sending the biotic falling on her face in plain view of the batarian guards patrolling the cages. The doctor muttered an apology, pink coloring her cheeks.

Frustration exploded within Rudy, but she quickly squashed it. Ara was a civilian, so Rudy couldn't actually expect that she'd have known that signal. Instead of scolding her friend, Rudy very carefully and very quietly peeked around the corner. There were two batarians walking up and down the aisle, banging on the bars of the cages they passed every now and then to keep the people inside on edge. Each of them were in full armor with guns attached to the magnetic straps.

"Alright, there are two batarians, both are armed and wearing armor," Rudy began, swinging back into the safety of the unlit corner they were hiding in. "I know turians are pretty quick on their feet, so Flavian, I want you to charge the batarian farthest away after I take out the batarian closest to us from above. I'm going to need help getting on top of the cages though." Flavian nodded, and Rudy turned to Ara. "I need you to stay back here and stay quiet. You're a civilian, and I'm not going to be putting you in direct danger. Now if a batarian sees you and goes for a gun, charge him. Remember, go for the eyes."

"Got it," Ara replied.

Rudy nodded to the both of them then stood up slowly. Flavian stood with her and helped her climb the cage. Once on top of the cage, Rudy crouched and crept along them, waiting until Flavian was ready to sprint at the second batarian before leaping on the first one. Her right hand closed in a fist, biotics encompassing it in a blue glow as her feet launched her from the metal cages. The batarian looked up a second too late. Rudy's knees impacted the slaver's chest just before her fist collided with his face. Before his body hit the ground, Rudy's biotics had reduced his head to a pulpy mass. Grey matter and blood splattered the floor and a few cages around them. Several of the captives let out shrieks and gags.

Rudy looked away from the mess she made – she had to in order to keep herself from getting sick – and snapped her gaze to where Flavian was ripping out the second batarian's vocal chords before the poor bastard had time to scream. That body soon joined his comrade on the floor, gurgling his last breath. Flavian towered over him, blood dripping from his claws and mandibles quivering and spread wide from his mouth, revealing several very sharp teeth. His breathing was harsh, chest heaving as he got himself back under control. He was positively terrifying and Rudy was immensely glad he was on her side for this.

Rudy turned back to look at Ara, ready to beckon her friend forward in safety, but paused at the look on her face. The whites around Ara's wide green eyes were visible in the dim light even from Rudy's distance ten feet away. She was absolutely horrified at the scene in front of her. She glanced at Rudy, mouth agape in silent terror, tears running down the planes of her face.

Frowning, Rudy quietly made her way back to the doctor. Taking both shoulders in each of her hands, she clenched slightly and waited for green eyes to meet her grey ones before quietly, calmly saying, "Ara, I know you're not used to seeing this kind of violence, but you need to pull yourself together. In order to get out of here unscathed, we can't be seen, which means we have to kill the guards we come across. I don't care if you don't look at me or talk to me the same after this, but at least I'll be getting you out alive."

Ara shut her mouth, inhaling through her nose and nodded slowly. "I'm sorry, Rudy, I…" she started, but bit her lower lip as it started to tremble. She clenched her eyes shut, inhaled then exhaled once more before opening them and fixing Rudy with a determined stare. "You're right. We need to get these people out."

Behind them, Flavian had taken the omni-tool from the batarian he'd killed and moved to the cages. The lock on the first door turned green quickly and the human inside scampered out. He was gaunt, like Rudy was, and stuck in his under-armor clothes. Good, that meant that Rudy and Flavian weren't the only ones with combat experience in their group now.

Ara moved with Rudy back into the aisle of cages, picked up the last batarian's omni-tool and set to work opening the cages. Rudy did the same until everyone else was out. Their small group grew from three to nine, adding two more people with fighting experience, one human male and one asari. The asari was swaying where she stood, however, eyes glazed over slightly. She probably wouldn't be too much help until the inhibitors metabolized in her body.

So, Rudy turned to the human male. He was big, heavily muscled even with two weeks of being stuck in a cage with little to no food. He looked young, maybe hadn't spent more than two years in the military, maybe a Corporal. She recognized him though, so he had to have been part of the Alliance soldiers aboard the Athena, but not in the same squad as hers. "I'm Lieutenant Rudy Shepard, Alliance Marines. Name and rank, soldier," Rudy commanded.

"First Sergeant Jeremy Saunders, Alliance Marines, ma'am," he replied, straightening his back respectfully, brown eyes facing forward. So, she was still in charge, but at least Saunders ranked higher than she originally thought.

"Alright then, we need to keep moving, or the rest of the batarians will definitely find us," Rudy stated, before heading back down the aisle and crept along the outer wall. The batarians had to have heard something from that last scuffle. Sure, they'd been quiet and the screams from the back of the room at the other end of the aisle had probably masked the sounds of combat, but Rudy really didn't want to take that chance.

The next aisle had a couple batarian guards near the opening, playing some batarian game on an omni-tool. Ara gave Saunders her omni-tool per Rudy's very quiet instruction and both he and Flavian activated the omni-blade and sliced their throats quietly. Arterial blood sprayed the wall with a gory orange splatter as the two large males lowered the bodies to floor. Two more soldiers joined their ranks as well as eight more civilians, most of which were human. There was another very dazed asari and one salarian.

One of the soldiers Rudy knew. Her name was Ensign Cristina Ramirez. She was in a different squad, answered to another lieutenant, and a member of the Alliance Navy, but like Rudy, she was an officer on the Athena before picking up the survivors on Horizon. She stepped out of her cell and sent a tired smile at Rudy before walking over. "Gracias a Dios, you got out Rudy! I thought for sure they'd drag you back there first after that stunt you pulled leaving the Ravenant," she said quietly, hugging her with relief in her eyes.

"Their first mistake," Rudy replied, smiling back.

"No, their first mistake was attacking the Athena, then bringing you along with them," Cristina stated, smile widening. It was common knowledge among the crew on the Athena that Rudy was not a biotic to be crossed.

The second soldier turned out to be a pilot. "I fly one of the Athena's shuttles," he said after introducing himself as Flight Lieutenant Ravi Dayal. After that, Rudy led the eighteen freed captives back the way she had come originally, toward the dead batarians.

The warehouse was large and split into two rooms. At the heart of the warehouse was the room where the implanting took place and where the majority of the batarians were. The chipped slaves were taken from there to the other side of the warehouse, out of view of everyone else. The aisles of cages ran perpendicular to both the implanting room and the wall where the exit was. Rudy had taken her group away from the center and along the outer wall. The way out should be up ahead on the left, but the door had a clear view of the center and had to be guarded.

They had to kill the guards by the door in order to sneak by and get to the rest of the warehouse to set more people free, but they would have to do so quietly and quickly. So killing the guards was a given. Now she had to figure out whether or not to send one of the soldiers with the civilians to make sure they got out safely before continuing to the rest of the warehouse. If she didn't then the civilians wouldn't be protected, but if she did, then that was one less person to help her free the others.

She stopped everyone at the edge of the aisle, blocking a direct view of them to the door. "Dayal, have you been trained in hand-to-hand?"

Dayal shook his head, "no. Pilots get trained in guns and I'm a good marksman. But I've never had the opportunity to learn hand-to-hand."

"Alright, well when Flavian and Saunders kill the guards at the door, I want you to take the guns off the batarians and lead the others out. Cristina, Flavian, Saunders, and I will continue to the other half of the warehouse and try to free more people," Rudy commanded.

"Do we get guns?" Cristina asked.

"We only start firing a gun when it's the only option left. We need to be fast and quiet to get this done and we can't be either when they've sounded the alarm," she answered before turning the Dayal. "That goes for you too. Don't fire your guns until it is absolutely necessary."

With that, Flavian and Saunders moved up, swiftly and quietly. The guards fell just as the others had, dead before they could make a sound. Dayal ran up with the fourteen civilians and picked up some of the guns from the batarians. Ara even leaned down and grabbed a pistol and a stasis gun, much to Rudy's surprise. Hopefully she knew how to use them.

"What the – HEY! They've escaped! Sound the alarm!" A startled shout erupted from the next aisle over and was soon followed by a loud klaxon. Cristina and Rudy wasted no time ripping the guns from a couple dead guards and sprinting after the others.

Shots pinged off the walls and several people ducked, revealing Dayal crouching with a stolen omni-tool and trying to unlock the door. Rudy threw a barrier around them before rounding the corner and firing a few cover shots of her own. Flavian and Saunders climbed the cages on either side of the main aisle while Rudy rolled into cover. Batarians poured in the center aisle from the back room, guns drawn.

"I can't get this door open! I don't know anything about hacking!" Dayal cried, looking over his shoulder at the oncoming batarians.

"Then get away from the door and cover me!" Rudy exclaimed, waiting to hear Dayal's gunfire before standing and moving in front of the door. Drawing upon every biotic reserve in her body, Rudy launched everything she had at the door. It exploded outward with the force but left Rudy gasping. "Go!" she managed after a breath and the civilians took off.

"I'll look after them, Rudy! Find us outside Afterlife!" Ara shouted over the scrum of shouts, screams, and gunfire. Then she was gone too. Rudy turned back around, gun pointed down the aisle. While she had been busy with the door, Flavian and Saunders had leapt into the fray from above, omni-blades slashing any batarian flesh they could find. When a few had fallen, they'd picked up the abandoned guns and returned fire.

"Keep them busy!" Rudy shouted to Cristina and the others before taking off to the left, where more cages were. The first aisle had several more batarians in it, all with guns drawn and running up the aisle. Rudy checked her pistol's heat sink – five shots left until the gun overheated – before looking out again. There were six batarians sprinting toward her end. She absolutely couldn't miss.

Rolling out of cover, Rudy found herself in a crouch in the center of the aisle, firing her gun at the oncoming batarians. Three dropped to the ground, dead with smoking holes in their heads, and one more screamed as a bullet impacted his stomach, driving through the light armor. He collapsed to the ground right after the other three and proceeded to bleed out. The fifth shot went wide and Rudy had to scurry back to cover as the last two opened fire on her.

When she heard a break in the gunfire, she leaned out and managed a very feeble throw. All it was able to do was knock the breath from one batarian and send him to his ass. Her head screamed with the exertion and her body sagged, but she didn't have time to slow down. She sprinted out of cover at the last standing batarian and tackled him, feeling a bullet graze her left arm before she could grab the gun. Bringing the butt of her pistol down the batarian's wrist and the hand spasmed, unleashing another spray of bullets before releasing the gun. She swung the gun around and fired point blank at the batarian's head before firing at his companion, who was lifting himself from the ground.

Blood dripped freely down her arm as she dropped the gun and began to unlock the cage doors. "The door's open, just keep your head down and run as fast as you possibly can!" she exclaimed, directing them in the direction of the blown-out door. Eight people ran by, but three stayed behind, each of them soldiers. They grabbed the guns from the fallen batarians and followed her to the next aisle. Rudy was incredibly grateful, but she sent two off to help everyone at the front.

"You've never met me, Lt. Shepard, but I was a first responder on Horizon. I'm Second Lieutenant Micah Johnson with the Alliance Marines," the soldier that had stayed with her explained as they ran to the next aisle. He was another very big guy, bigger and taller than Saunders actually, with dark skin and dark eyes. "Thanks for coming back for us."

"No man left behind, right?" Rudy replied breathlessly as they rounded the corner for the next aisle, getting to cover immediately. A look around the corner revealed no batarians down this aisle, which surprised and worried Rudy considerably. "Alright, you stay back and cover me, make sure no one sneaks up on me." Johnson gave her a nod and she set off, unlocking cages and telling people to make their way quickly to the front door. This time only six civilians ran by and one soldier stayed behind.

"I heard them say they'd cleaned out the last several rows. They were trying to finish our row when the alarm went off," Petty Officer Barrett Morrison reported as he hurried out of his cage.

"Well, then I guess we need to help everyone at the front," Rudy stated, running back to the rest of the soldiers defending the exit. Dayal was crouching in cover when they arrived, shouting in pain as he hunched over his thigh. Cristina had stopped firing to help him stop the bleeding while the other two soldiers Rudy had sent up there earlier had taken their spots. A look into the aisle showed Flavian and Saunders still causing havoc slicing and shooting alternatively. Orange blood covered the both of them, but even from where Rudy was standing, she could see _glee_ in their eyes. It was an absolute miracle neither of them had been killed, fighting so close to armored batarians.

"Looks like Saunders is having a good time," Johnson stated with a grin of his own before firing the assault rifle he'd picked up from one of the batarians.

After a few more minutes of combat, a stray bullet hit the controls for the lights and sent the room into darkness. The red light of Omega showed the outlines of various forms but nothing else was really visible. Every now and then, the lights would flicker back on, but they didn't stay lit very long.

"Hold fire!" Rudy hissed, worried about accidentally hitting Flavian or Saunders. Eventually, the gunfire died down with the last of the batarians. Many hadn't expected a break out so they'd gone into the fight with as little armor as their captives. Flavian and Saunders joined them at the front after the last batarian fell, covered in cuts and burns from the bullets.

"I couldn't explain how they kept missing us. Maybe they've never actually had to fight before. Always relying on those stasis guns," Flavian replied when Rudy asked about their wounds.

"Or, you know, it could have been the turian fighting like a savage," Saunders needled, smiling broadly.

Flavian laughed, "you were just as savage yourself, human!"

"I'm just glad we all made it out alive," Morrison breathed, wiping sweat from his brow.

"What about the civilians? Did they make it out?" Dayal asked, voice straining with the pain in his thigh.

"Ara said she'd look after everyone, and to meet them outside Afterlife," Rudy replied. They left the warehouse shortly after, only staying long enough to gather more heat sinks for their stolen guns. Dayal was supported by the two soldiers that Rudy had found with Johnson – she hadn't caught their names – but everyone else was able to walk out on their own. Rudy couldn't have hoped for a better outcome.

It didn't take long, but Rudy's small group caught up with Ara's larger one. It was challenging moving so many people quickly through Omega undetected so Ara's group of civilians were pretty easy to find if you knew where they were headed. They were scared, but not wounded, and very happy to see all the soldiers armed to the teeth with stolen guns and omni-tools.

A huge smile bloomed on Ara's face as she dashed over to Rudy and threw her arms around her. "I knew you'd make it out!"

"And I'm glad you kept everyone safe, but we've got to keep going," Rudy replied, smiling at her friend before looking over everyone again. "Alright, let's get up to Afterlife."

The infamous Omega nightclub was probably one of the safest places on this blasted asteroid. On top of that, there was a spaceport near it and maybe someone would be kind and give them passage to someplace friendlier.

It took Rudy two hours to lead everyone up to Afterlife without running into too much trouble. They'd run into a salarian absolutely wacked out on drugs. Probably red sand if the biotics he'd tried to use on them were anything to go by. Of course, Rudy put him on his ass and continued on. Even so, the bright red lights of Afterlife were a welcome sight after the dark and dingy alleyways and tunnels they'd used to get there.

"Alright, the spaceport is over this way," Rudy said, glancing at the map she'd downloaded on her omni-tool and pointing in the direction across from Afterlife. She turned back to the group gathered. Most were haggard and tired looking, shoulders sagging and arms hanging loosely at their sides. A few were looking at their surroundings distrustfully, waiting to be jumped at any moment. Of course, no pickpocket or mugger was stupid enough to attack a group of 37 people. The people that had fought at her side to free everyone were watching her with determination, clutching their guns. Even Dayal managed to stand up a little straighter with his wounded leg.

Everyone was sporting cuts and bruises of varying intensity, but Dayal was the only one seriously injured. The tourniquet Cristina had applied earlier had stemmed the blood flow, so he at least wasn't in any immediate danger of bleeding out, but he still needed to get to a doctor. The only thing she could do was find a damned ship.

"Let's take a look at those ships, then," Flavian stated, small smile widening his mandibles slightly. Rudy nodded back with a smile of her own before leading everyone into the spaceport. The turian immediately moved up to the huge window on the other side of the dank hallway, putting his hands up to the glass and finally letting a real smile show, absolute relief in his golden eyes. "Lieutenant, you need to see this."

Curious, Rudy moved up to the glass to stand beside the tall turian. The words 'what is it?' were on the tip of her tongue but never left her mouth. A sleek ship with the Cerberus logo painted on the side was parked in the spaceport. But Rudy ignored that. It was the letters that were written on the hull that she couldn't comprehend.

_Normandy_.


End file.
